Schools should be more proactive regarding children's mental health

My child is in weekly therapy currently for PTSD which has triggered other issues.

Its quite a complex need she has, but one of her "issues" is the high level of perfectionism that she is striving towards every day therefor her school do see small signs of her anxietys come through but nothing like what shes experiencing in her head daily and at home.

Its not the schools responsability to provide therapy for my child, I do think schools should play a supporting role and follow our lead which our school have.

My expectations of school is to teach my children the ciriculam - not how to bursh their teeth, toilet train them or provide mental health care.

People are now becoming far too reliant on schools to parent their children and that is the real issue. Parents need to be far more proactive in obtaining mental health resources through therapy, groups, charities.

Nowhere did I suggest that teachers took on the extra load. It should involve specialists in mental health issues and better security arangements to make the environment safer.

Your thread title literally says schools need to be more proactive around children's mental health, but who do you think takes on the extra load if not school staff? Where are these specialists going to come from and who will be paying for them? There is a national shortage of Educational Psychologists, and we cannot afford the number of EP hours we need to get evidence for EHCP's as it is. CAMHS in my area keep having to repeatedly re-advertise vacancies for Mental Health Nurses and therapists, no one wants the job and I can't say I blame them. Even if there were loads of Mental health specialists queueing up to work in schools, we don't have the budget to pay for them.

I agree 100% that schools have a duty to promote positive mental health and every school I've worked in has placed a high level of importance on children's emotional wellbeing, as they should. But what I object to is the idea that schools should be providing a specialist mental health service because the agencies who are actually commissioned to provide these services can't meet demand. Parents tell me all the time that they've taken their child to the GP with serious Mental Health concerns and been told there's "no point" referring to CAMHS as the waiting lists are too long and the child needs help now so they should "ask the school what they can do to support". Social workers ask me in meetings "what is the school doing to support this child with their mental health?" when they know full well that this child's mental health is poor because they are living in a chaotic, volatile and unsafe environment.

We do our best, and will continue to do so, but it's never enough and I'm sick and tired of schools being expected to fix all the problems in society.

I don’t think anyone can disagree that schools need to improve. Send a letter to your MP. Don’t blame the victim for the dire situation they have found themselves after cuts since 2008.

Definitely not your job to support in this as her parent?
Priimary teacher here, it is the forefront of everything we do and everything we worry we aren't doing enough of.

In my school we have the following

A school counsellor.
A play therapist who comes in weekly.
2 staff trained in Art therapy.
Several trained Mental Health First Aiders.
All staff receive training in trauma and attachment.
All staff have had specific training around self harm.
Group interventions for self esteem, social skills, managing worries etc.
A sensory room.
Time out cards that kids can use if feeling overwhelmed in the classroom.
A support group for parents of kids with SEND (including Mental Health issues).
A nurture group first thing every morning for children that struggle with the transition into school.
A daily break and lunchtime club (run by staff trained in MHFA) specifically for kids who feel anxious or overwhelmed being on the playground.
Parent workshops around mental health, wellbeing and safeguarding topics.
A PSHE curriculum that places a huge emphasis on kindness, respect for others and taking care of our Mental Health.

I'd love to know what else my staff and I should be doing to proactively support children's mental health. I'm open to suggestions as long as they don't cost money (we have none) or time because frankly we spend so much time sorting out housing, benefits, feeding and clothing children, teaching basic self-care skills and dealing with a myriad of social issues that are nothing to do with education but we can't persuade any other agency to help with, that there's barely enough time left to educate children.

DH and I are both teachers and support for mental health in schools is completely inadequate, IME. We have a DC who has been completely failed by the lack of support for her mental health. I'm sure it varies by school but in my experience, as parent and teacher, a student is far more likely to get support if they cause disruption. The ones who internalise their fears and are exceptionally quiet will be ignored. I begged for help from the first signs of difficulty and got nothing. Three years down the line we have an EHCP and some teaching provided outside of school but her academic chances have been completely ruined.

Don't even get me started on the uselessness of CAMHS.

My granddaughter has recently started in year 1. Her school has been addressing mental health ever since she started reception. They have mini mindfulness sessions and it's clear from the things that she says to me that discussions happen about feelings within their curriculum.

Was this video taken at your child’s school by your child or someone she knows, or did she find it on TikTok?

Schools are a reflection of the society they serve.

Wouldn't it be easier for the school to just prevent that child from returning? Of course! Saves them loads of work! So if it is that easy why don't schools just expel them... oh wait... it isn't that easy.

You obviously don't know the system.

Parents need to parent. Schools should be teaching... but instead all of the role of the parent is placed on schools.

I was accused of walking past a fight once. I was a pregnant, high risk, have health issues with my spine that means I can't get involved like i once did. I sought help immediately and other staff (that are properly trained, might I add) stopped it. I still felt guilty. During my first pregnancy I did intervene and was badly injured. But you just judge that poor teacher on a video!

Huge emphasis on mental health in schools now
especially since Covid
but surely schools should be there to educate -

why are kids so vulnerable to mental illness now ??

read the anxious generation.

screen addiction is a huge factor in kids mental distress

parents screen addiction getting in the way of active parenting

that starts at home / parenting but many do not want to hear / acknowledge this and say what are schools / Cahms going to do about my child’s poor mental health ???
whilst at home :
hours on screens
poor sleep
rubbish nutrition
little exercise
Not socialising in real life / mainly on screens
reels / shorts causing poor concentration/ lack of focus
i could go on …

Schools focus on mental health yes but do little to address the school-based causes of poor mental health. Where pupils are free to attack others without any meaningful consequences pupils find the atmosphere in school unbearably tense. If you have someone in your class given to throwing chairs at the drop of a hat it’s going to be immensely stressful. And yet schools freely let children prone to such outbursts sit in mainstream classes.

School are not a replacement for parenting.

All schools have a focus on safeguarding and mental health.

Ragebait.

So now teachers need to step in because parents are failing? Where does it end. I have so much sympathy for teachers.

Schools have been doing doing all this for years. I think they should be doing less of it and more actual teaching.

The school I work at (admittedly a primary) does a huge amount of work in mental health support and safeguarding. It's definitely a pressing issue but I think what you describe (a teacher ignoring an active assault) is far from the norm.

Schools do a huge amount of MH guidance, it's at the forefront of most policies.

There are far more youngsters self-harming, avoiding school, turning to drugs and alcohol and as parents we're being told the schools can't do anything!!

Also, unless the kids are doing those things on the premises, what do you expect school staff to do?

And why wouldn't it be the parents responsibility?

Parents need to parent as well.
Schools would have such easier time if parents co-operated with them rather than battling everything.

I have been in many schools and absolutely don’t recognise this. Schools work really hard on safeguarding and mental health.

This doesn't all fall to schools. They can't be everything.

Exactly what I was going to say.

In fact I'm surprised teachers have any time left to teach, what with all the extra responsibilities placed upon them.

Also OP, if you're going to mention suicide, why would you put ** in the word? It's not like no-one knows what you're saying?